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Chapter 14 Distortion Measurements

nonlinearities result in the production of mainly odd harmonics. You can use distortion measurements to diagnose faults such as bad solder joints, torn speaker cones, and components that have been incorrectly installed. Nonlinearities are not always undesirable, however. For example, many musical sounds are produced specifically by driving a device into its nonlinear region.

Harmonic Distortion

When a signal, x(t), of a particular frequency (for example, f1) is passed through a nonlinear system, the output of the system consists of not only the input frequency (f1), but also its harmonics (f2 = 2f1, f3 = 3f1, f4 = 4f1, and so on). The number of harmonics, and their corresponding amplitudes, that are generated depends on the degree of nonlinearity of the system. In general, the more the nonlinearity, the higher the harmonics, and vice versa.

An example of a nonlinear system is a system where the output y(t) is the cube of the input signal x(t), as shown in Figure 14-1.

Figure 14-1. Example Nonlinear System

So, if the input is

x( t) = cos t)

the output is

x3( t) = 0.5 cos ( ω t) + 0.25[ cos ( ω t) + cos ( 3ω t) ]

Therefore, the output contains not only the input fundamental frequency of ω , but also the third harmonic of 3ω .

Total Harmonic Distortion

To determine the amount of nonlinear distortion that a system introduces, you need to measure the amplitudes of the harmonics that were introduced by the system relative to the amplitude of the fundamental. Harmonic distortion is a relative measure of the amplitudes of the harmonics as compared to the amplitude of the fundamental. If the amplitude of the

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Chapter 14 Distortion Measurements

fundamental is A1 and the amplitudes of the harmonics are A2 (second harmonic), A3 (third harmonic), A4 (fourth harmonic), and so on, then the total harmonic distortion (THD) is given by

A22 + A32 + A42 + …

THD = -----------------------------------------------------

A1

The percentage total harmonic distortion (%THD) is given by the equation:

percentageTHD

= 100

 

A22

+ A32 + A42 + …

----------

----------A----1------------------------

 

 

 

 

Thus, measurement of the total harmonic distortion requires measuring the amplitudes of the fundamental frequency and the amplitudes of the individual harmonics. A common cause of harmonic distortion is clipping that occurs when a system is driven beyond its capabilities. Symmetrical clipping results in odd harmonics, but asymmetrical clipping creates both even and odd harmonics.

Real-world signals are usually noisy. The system also can introduce additional noise into the signal. A useful measure of distortion, which also takes into account the amount of noise power, is total harmonic distortion + noise (THD + N) and is given by the equation:

THD + N =

A22 + A32 + … + N2

--

2----+----A----

---2---

---------

--2----

+-----------N----2-

A

1

+ A

 

 

2

 

3

 

where N is the noise power.

The percentage total harmonic distortion + noise (%THD + N) is given by the equation:

percentageTHD + N = 100

 

A22 + A32 + …

+ N2

----

--

2----+----A----

---

2---+-----A----

--2----

+-----------N----2-

 

A

1

2

 

 

 

 

3

 

Thus, measurement of THD + N requires measuring the amplitude of the fundamental frequency and the power present in the remaining signal after the fundamental frequency has been removed.

© National Instruments Corporation

14-3

LabVIEW Measurements Manual

Chapter 14 Distortion Measurements

THD + N also includes the noise, a low measurement not only means that the system has a low amount of harmonic distortion, it also means that the contribution from the AC mains hum, wideband white noise, and other interfering signals is low. Measurements of THD or THD + N are usually specified in terms of the highest order harmonic that has been present in the measurement, for example, THD through the seventh harmonic or THD + N through the third harmonic.

SINAD

Another measurement that takes into account both harmonics and noise is

SINAD. SINAD is given by the equation:

Fundamental + Noise + Distortion

SINAD = ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Noise + Distortion

SINAD is the reciprocal of THD + N. You can use SINAD to characterize the performance of FM receivers in terms of sensitivity, adjacent channel selectivity, and alternate channel selectivity.

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